Bitcoin, Ether Price Fluctuations Continue; Google Tackles Fake Apps

Bitcoin, Ether Price Fluctuations Continue Amid Volatile Market 

The overall crypto market saw volatility this way, now that Bitcoin's fourth halving process is just around the corner. The value of Bitcoin, on international exchanges, touched the mark of $70,530 whereas on Indian exchanges the value of BTC stood around the mark of $66,615.  

Ether traded around the price points of $3,355 and $3,560 for most days this week. Despite the market volatility, both BTC and ETH managed to mint small profits and minor price corrections.  

Leo, Cosmos, and Cronos emerged among gainers while Solana, Ripple, Cardano recorded losses on most days.  

The overall valuation of the crypto market sits atop the mark of $2.63 trillion. 

Google Files Complaint Against 2 Chinese Nationals Over Fake Apps 

Search engine giant Google, last week, named two Chinese nationals in an official complaint. The tech giant has alleged that China-based Yunfeng Sun, aka Alphonse Sun, and Hongnam Cheung, aka Zhang Hongnim or Stanford Fischer for publishing scam apps on the PlayStore.  

As per Google, these fake apps were enticing people to make fund deposits with the platforms only to later block access to their deposits.  

The tech giant estimates that at least 87 crypto scams were published by these people on the PlayStore. These apps have collectively been downloaded by over 100,000 times.  

Google has claimed that the scamsters were using heavily used social networking platforms like YouTube to advertise their malicious apps.  

RBI Could Let Third Party Apps Distribute CBDC in Retail Ecosystem 

India is in the advanced trial phase for its Digital Rupee or eRupee CBDC. Several banks, at this point, are part of these advanced trials. To expediate the distribution of the eRupee in India's vibrant retail ecosystem, the RBI has decided to involve third party online payment platforms.  

This means, in the coming days platforms like Google Pay and PhonePe will be circulating the Indian CBDC among platform users.  

“CBDC pilots in the retail and wholesale segments are underway with more use-cases and more participating banks. Continuing with this approach, it is proposed to make CBDC-retail accessible to a broader segment of users in a sustained manner, by enabling non-bank payment system operators to offer CBDC wallets,” RBI Chief General Manager Yogesh Dayal said last week.  

Bitcoin's Upcoming Halving Leads to Bulk Token Offloading by Miners 

The upcoming Bitcoin halving will reduce the BTC rewards that miners get for validating transactions on the blockchain. Before that happens, miners are selling portions of their Bitcoin holdings – now that the asset is trading close to $70,000. These profits, miners will use to sustain their mining operations in the days that follow Bitcoin's pre-programmed halving.  

Bitcoin's fourth halving event is slated for later this year after which the reward for miners will fall from 6.25 BTC for validating each block to 3.125 BTC. 

Crypto mining is a process that requires big load of electricity and advanced computers that need continuous power supply. As per on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, Bitcoin miners are still facing headwinds from lower transaction fees and increasing mining competition alongside risen electricity pricing.  

Web3 Sector Expands in India, Shows Impressive Tech Adoption

India's Web3 sector is blossoming despite its sceptic approach towards cryptocurrencies. In a fresh report published by Web3 venture capital firm Hashed Emergent, India's global share of blockchain developer pool, rose to 12 percent last year from just three percent that it had back in 2018. 

Web3 projects working in the fields of finance, entertainment, and infrastructure services especially reeling-in fundings from venture firms. 

As per the report, India has also managed to bag top spot for on-chain adoption in 2023 over 150 countries.